1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a crusher assembly and, more particularly, to a manually operated can crusher for compressing cans and similar objects made of aluminum, steel, etc. such as are used for packaging various beverages.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been recognized that recycling aluminum cans and other objects made of other recyclable material would be easier and more economical if they were first crushed. Accordingly, it is felt that a single, easily used can crusher positioned on vending machines, for example, could encourage such recycling and take much less space for storage of cans not to mention the enormeous energy savings.
Aluminum has been determined to be a preferable recyclable material because it requires only 5% of the energy to recycle aluminum to make it from bauxite ore. It has been determined that there were approximately 1.35 billion pounds of aluminum used in beverage cans in 1978 and thus, the possibility of energy savings resulting from their recycling is considered to be enormous. As an example, Reynolds Aluminum recycling centers, of which there are presently 994 throughout the United States, are paying 23 cents per pound for used aluminum beverage cans and, if all cans were recyclable aluminum, it is estimated that U.S. citizens could save $312.7 million dollars a year.
It has also been recognized that there is another advantage in having a market acceptable beverage can crusher in that a reduction of volume or space required to store used beverage cans results therefrom. As an example, if in 1978, 59% of the 53 billion beverage used were aluminum, the other 41% constituted another material with the material being the most used besides aluminum consisting of tin plated steel. Therefore, it can be expected that in order to be acceptable to the market, a beverage can crusher should be capable of crushing any beverage can, aluminum or steel. Although the recyclable value of aluminum is greatest, steel is also recyclable and could thus be valuable. It is also to be noted that tremendous savings from the can crusher is derived from trash hauling cost since by crushing the cans and storing the same in containers up to 60% can be saved in trash disposal costs.
Although a number of attempts have been made to produce a market acceptable beverage can crusher and numerous patents have been issued for various can crushers, such have not gained wide spread use. In this regard, it should be noted that can crushers have heretofore suffered from the same drawbacks, i.e. lack of market acceptance. In this regard, it is felt that there are a number of reasons why, despite the obvious advantages and potential energy savings, such have not been accepted in the market.
In determining the reasons for this lack of market acceptance, it is first necessary to analyze the beverage can itself, the previous art in can crusher design and to evaluate marketing acceptance. First of all, with regard to the beverage can, its dimensions, composition, number, condition and strength must be determined. For example, the structural strength, that is, the ability to carry a dead load structurally of beverage cans is to be considered. An all aluminum can will support 210 pounds before collapsing, a one-piece tin plated steel can can support 335 pounds before collapsing and a seamed steel can will support 645 pounds before collapsing. Therefore a successful beverage can crusher must be capable of producing initial crushing force of more than 645 pounds.
To gain wide spread use and to be acceptable in the market, a can crusher must also be inexpensive and therefore should be manually operated. Even so, it is recognized that the present invention is capable of being adaptable to automatic machines. A study was made to determine how much human manual effort is considered acceptable or desirable with a result that a 30 pound to 50 pound push and pull was considered to be the maximum a person would find acceptable. The beverage can crusher of the present invention was therefore designed to produce a force curve that matches almost identically the force curve necessary to crush a beverage can or similar object and stay within the acceptable limits of human effort in so doing.
An actual testing of the beverage can crusher of the present invention, 50 pounds was the maximum force input required to fully crush a seamed steel beverage can whereas the force required to crush all aluminum beverage cans ranged from 5 pounds to 20 pounds. While the previous art in beverage can crushers recognized the strength of beverage cans, such did not effectively multiple their input force to overcome the initial collapse strength. Therefore, the actuating handle or lever on can crushers of the prior art were necessarily extremely long in order to gain the leverage necessary to create an initial collapse of the can. On the other hand, the can crusher of the present invention produces an infinite force multiplication at both extremes of its travel (i.e. at the top where the can is its strongest and again at the bottom when the can is fully crushed). Furthermore, it is noted that the numerous shortcomings of the prior art were overcome by the can crusher of the present invention.